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GEORGE BANCROFT 



GEORGE LOCKHART RIVES 



READ AT THE ANNUAL MEETING 

OF THE CENTURY ASSOCIATION 

JANUARY 10th, 1892 



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WM. C. MARTIN PHINTING HOUSE, 

111 JOHN STREET, 

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(George l3anct:oft» 



Since the last annual meeting of the Century, George 
Bancroft, an old member of this Association, and at the 
time of his death its sole surviving ex-president, has passed 
away. 

It has seemed to the Board of Management that this occasion 
should not be permitted to go by without some memorial of 
one whom the Century had greatly honored, and whose name 
had long illustrated and dignified the list of its membership. 
Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since Mr. Bancroft 
gave up his residence in this city and resigned the office of 
President of this Association, and to us of the younger genera- 
tion his connection with the Association has become no more 
than a tradition ; but the record of his long, industrious and 
well-spent life is widely known and easily accessible — a life 
devoted to the service of his country, and to the elucidation 
and perpetuation of its historical records, and which is now 
itself become a part of his country's history. 

The principal circumstances of Mr. Bancroft's life are 
familiar. As most of his friends in his later years had frequent 



occasion to remember, he was as old as the nineteenth century 
— having been born in the year 1800. He was of Massachu- 
setts, of a good New England stock. He entered Harvard at 
the mature age of thirteen years, and after obtaining such 
education as the Harvard of that day was able to afford, 
Bancroft, in 1818, took the then unusual step of prosecuting 
his studies in Europe, where he spent some five years. On his 
return to the United States he attempted preaching, and was 
for a time a tutor in Harvard College ; but neither of these 
pursuits proved congenial, and he abandoned them to establish 
the famous Round Hill School in partnership with Mr. 
Cogswell, in after years the well-known librarian and the 
real founder of the Astor Library in this city. The school was 
a success, perhaps in spite of the principals — for Bancroft at 
least had not his heart fully in teaching, and this period was 
one of considerable literary activity on his part, not only in 
preparing the first volumes of his history but in writing exten- 
sively for periodicals. The first volume of his History of the 
Colonie;s appeared in 1834, and the second in 1837, after he 
had, ceased his connection with the school, and had been 
appointed by Mr. Van Buren Collector of the Port of Boston. 
Bancroft had long bcien active in politics as well as in 
literature, and by 1844 he had become the foremost representa- 
tive of the Democratic party in Massachusetts, and was made 
its candidate for Governor. The contest was probably a hope- 
less one from the first, and Bancroft, although receiving 
a very large vote, was defeated by about the same majority by 
which the Whig party carried the State for its Presidential 



opposite view, — as did also one prominent Democrat, who was 
afterwards himself to become a President of the Century. A 
circular letter addressed to Democratic voters, urging them to 
support Polk for the sake of the party, but to vote for mem- 
bers of Congress opposed to annexation, was signed by a 
number of well known Democrats, headed by the venerable 
name of William Cullen Bryant. 

The subject, however, was decided before the new Adminis- 
tration took office ; and by the time Mr, Polk had been 
inaugurated nothing remained but the measures necessary for 
carrying the decision of Congress into effect. Those meas- 
ures, however, had need to be vigorous. The Mexican Gov- 
ernment, which had been for many years engaged in feeble 
and intermittent efforts to reconquer Texas, had announced 
in the most emphatic form that it would regard annexation as 
equivalent to a declaration of war. Bancroft was appointed 
Secretary of the Navy ; and his first duty was to see that the 
naval force of the country was ready for such duty as a war 
with Mexico might require. 

But this was not all. There were two other unsettled ques- 
tions of foreign policy of the first importance, which engaged 
the attention of the President as soon as he took office. In 
proposing to Mr. Bancroft the post of Secretary of the Navy, 
Mr. Polk laid down his programme. One of his measures 
had been embodied in the platform of the Democratic party 
and publicly discussed : it was the question of Oregon, a ques- 
tion with which Mr. Bancroft many years later was again to 
be actively connected. 



ticlcet. The defeat was a fortunate one for him and for the 
country. The honorable position of Governor of Massachu- 
setts affords its incumbent but little opportunity for the 
exercise of power, and the result of the election was to call 
Bancroft into a position in the Federal administration where 
there was the amplest opportunity for the exercise of all his 
powers. Great events, which were to exercise a momentous 
influence upon the history of the country, were at hand. 

The election of 1844 had turned almost entirely upon the 
question of the annexation of Texas, and upon that question 
Bancroft spoke with no uncertain voice. The constitution- 
ality and expediency of the measure were both attacked. 
Whether the admission of Texas was constitutional, is a ques- 
tion which may be left to those who are specfially concerned 
with the history of the development of constitutional law. It 
possesses to-day no other importance. But the question of 
the expediency of the admission of Texas was one which 
involved considerations far beyond the immediate subject of 
debate. 

The real issue was whether the addition of so large a terri- 
tory to the slave-holding part of the country, involving 
increased slave representation in Congress, would not tend to 
perpetuate the institution of slavery ; and the great discussion 
of that question, which lasted close upon ten years, is of the 
highest historical value and interest. Mr. Bancroft believed 
that slavery, if within our own control, would die out at least 
as rapidly as if Texas were permitted to exist as an independent 
slave-holding country. The Whig party, as a whole, took the 



At the beginning of this century, the Pacific coast had been 
claimed by four great powers, Russia, Spain, England and the 
United States. Spain, starting from the tropics, claimed 
indefinitely to the north ; Russia, starting from the Arctic 
Circle, claimed indefinitely to the south ; while England and 
the United States, penetrating the continent with their trappers 
and explorers, and coming across the Pacific by ship, claimed 
everything that they temporarily visited and which was not in 
the actual possession of the other powers. The claims of 
Spain and Russia were soon disposed of, Spain, in 1819, 
renounced all pretensions north of what is now the northern 
boundary of California ; Russia, in 1824, agreed to form no 
settlements south of what is now the southern boundary of 
Alaska. The question remained, what arbitrary division could 
be agreed upon between England and the United States ; the 
rights of both being equally uncertain. 

The second administration measure, the question of Cali- 
fornia, was totally different. There was no disputed question 
of title. The subject was one which had not been publicly 
discussed or made a party issue, and was indeed familiar only 
to a few men at Boston, who were interested in foreign com- 
merce, and to a few men in Washington, who were concerned 
with questions of foreign policy. Of these, Mr. Polk, whose 
real abilities were underrated by his contemporaries, and have 
been ignored by historians, was one. He knew the value of 
that country, and the slender ties which bound it to Mexico, 
and his desire and purpose were to effect a purchase of so 
much of California as should at least embrace the port of San 



Francisco. For such negotiations he had a perfect precedent 
in the earlier history of the United States. The acquisition of 
Florida was precisely like the contemplated acquisition of 
California, and the same means were to be adopted to bring 
about the desired result. Unsettled claims, a show of military 
force, and an offer of ready cash, were relied upon to complete 
the negotiation. 

Such were the questions with which a Secretary of the Navy 
might expect to be called upon to deal under Mr. Polk's 
administration, and IMr. Bancroft met them all with energy 
and success. The Navy was maintained in a state of admirable 
efficiency ; a strong squadron was kept posted in the Gulf of 
Mexico ; and, with an eye both to Oregon and California in 
the event of hostilities, the Dale^ Cyane, Coni^ress, Independence, 
Portsmouth^ Savannah, Warren, Levant, Shark and Erie, — some 
of them ships whose names are familiar at other periods of our 
history, some of them still afloat, — were dispatched to the 
Pacific coast. A little army was assembled in Texas, and for 
this also Bancroft at times had to care ; for during the 
absence of Governor Marcy from Washington, Mr. Bancroft 
became Acting Secretary of War, and some of the important 
orders to General Taylor are signed with his name. 

Negotiations with Great Britain followed the course that 
might have been anticipated. The claims of the United States 
to Oregon were urged to the highest point, and with a warlike 
tone ; and a compromise was proposed by the British Minister, 
and accepted by the Washington Cabinet. 

With Mexico, however, the result was not such as Mr. Polk 



had expected. He had failed to appreciate the difference 
between an autocratic monarchy like Spain, carrying on foreign 
wars and compelled to meet its pecuniary obligations ; and a 
government which was beyond caring for its financial reputa- 
tion, and in even an imperfect degree dependent for its exist- 
ence upon satisfying the public opinion of an excitable and 
ignorant population. Mexico refused even to receive our 
Envoy ; and a sharp reminder of our power was met by an 
attack upon General Taylor by the Mexican forces. The 
Navy at once proceeded to blockade effectually all the Mexican 
ports upon the Atlantic side, and in pursuance of instructions 
long before sent by Mr. Bancroft to the commanding officer 
on the Pacific, requiring him to act promptly upon the receipt 
of intelligence of hostilities, California was seized by an over- 
whelming naval force. Had Mr. Bancroft's purposes been 
carried out without interference, it would probably have come 
into our hands without bloodshed. Fremont afterwards 
claimed, and to a certain extent received, recognition as hav- 
ing won for us California ; but the conquest of California was 
really achieved, and the credit of the achievement is wholly 
due, to the American Navy under the wise guidance of George 
Bancroft. 

These undertakings involved much labor and anxiety, but 
they were not sufficient for Mr. Bancroft's energies. During 
his brief term of office as Secretary of the Navy, he established 
the Naval Observatory at Washington, and the Naval Academy 
at Annapolis. In later years, the foundation of the Naval 
Academy was an achievement to which he always looked back 



with the greatest interest ; and I well remember that, in speak- 
ing of the new Navy now being created, he took for himself no 
little share of the credit, from the fact that the establishment 
of a thorough school had made it possible for us to train a race 
of scientific officers, competent to build and manage the com- 
plicated structures of which a modern navy consists. 

In September, 1846, after eighteen months' service in Mr. 
Polk's Cabinet, Mr. Bancroft resigned to take the post of 
Minister at the Court of St. James. In addition to the duties 
of his office, he undertook, while in England, most valuable 
historical investigations. His double position as an accom- 
plished historian and as Minister of the United States gave him 
access to all the collections, public and private, which he desired 
to examine, and enabled him to discover a vast mass of material 
theretofore unknown, for the history of the United States. 

In 1849 he returned home and took up his residence in the 
city of New York, where he remained for eighteen busy years. 
During this time the greater part of his history, comprising an 
account of the immediate causes which led to the Revolution, 
and the history of the Revolution itself, was completed. And 
during this period he joined the Century, and became its 
President. 

At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Bancroft was clear 
in declaring himself in favor of the Union, and was counted as 
an active War-Democrat. Indeed, his election to the Presi- 
dency of the Century in 1864 was due largely to the mistaken 
notion that Mr. Verplanck, his predecessor, was not suffi- 
ciently in sympathy with the prosecution of the War. 



In 1867 Mr. Bancroft, who had been a vigorous supporter 
of Johnson's reconstruction policy, was appointed Minister to 
Berlin, and though he had even then reached a time of life 
when most men would feel themselves entitled to a period of 
repose, important work was before him. 

In his earliest instructions to Mr. Bancroft upon assuming 
office, Mr. Seward dwelt upon the fact that there was but a 
single unsettled question between the United States and 
Prussia, but that was a question of the first importance. 
Prussia, in common with the other European nations, had 
declined to recognize the binding effect of naturalization upon 
its subjects coming to the United States ; and American citi- 
zens of German birth, on returning to their native country, 
were liable to be punished if they had failed to perform their 
military duty. With the growth of the country and with 
increasing communication, the question of naturalization was 
daily becoming more pressing. We had fought one bloody 
war with England which partly arose from this controversy, 
but England had never in terms acceded to our views. A new 
effort was to be made to convert Europe to our way of 
thinking. 

Mr. Bancroft dealt with the subject with the utmost tact 
and ability, and made admirable use of his wide learning with 
regard not only to the historical position of the United States, 
but to the position adopted by other countries in all periods of 
history. The negotiation was rendered doubly important from 
the fact, communicated by Count Bismarck, that the English 
Government had in substance notified him that they would 



10 

follow the lead of Prussia in whatever was agreed upon. The 
result was an unqualified success. On February 22, 1868, the 
first treaty of naturalization ever entered into, and which marks 
a real epoch in international law, was signed at Berlin. Treaties 
with Baden, Bavaria, Hesse and Wiirtemburg, all negotiated 
by Mr. Bancroft, soon followed ; and the precedent thus set 
made it easy for the United States to negotiate similar treaties 
with Austria and most of the States of Northern Europe, and 
most important of all, with Great Britain. 

The formation of the North German Confederation had 
marked the period of Mr. Bancroft's arrival in Berlin. The 
war with France followed during his term of service, and the 
creation of the German Empire ; and we may be sure that he 
was a most interested and intelligent observer of these great 
events. 

His last important duty was, strangely enough, the final 
settlement of the Oregon question. By the Treaty of Wash- 
ington, the question of the interpretation of the Oregon Treaty 
of 1846, involving the possession of San Juan and other islands 
near Vancouver, was submitted by Great Britain and the 
United States to the arbitration of the Emperor of Germany ; 
and Mr. Bancroft represented the United States as its agent 
before the arbitrator. Efficiently supplied by the Department 
of State at Washington with all the maps and documents bear- 
ing upon the question, Mr. Bancroft prepared and presented 
the legal question involved in this dispute ; and he was again 
rewarded by a complete success. It was his last great 
public service. At the opening of his argument, submitted to 



11 

the German Emperor in December, 187 1, Mr. Bancroft said : 
" The treaty of which the interpretation is referred to your 
Majesty's arbitrament was ratified more than a quarter of a 
century ago. Of the sixteen members of the British Cabinet 
which framed and presented it for the acceptance of the United 
States, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Aberdeen, and all the rest but 
one are no more. The British Minister at Washington who 
signed it is dead. Of American statesmen concerned in it, the 
Minister at London, the President and Vice-President, the 
Secretary of State, and every one of the President's constitu- 
tional advisers, except one, have passed away. I alone remain, 
and after finishing the three-score years and ten that are the 
days of our years, am selected by my country to uphold its 
rights." 

Twenty years have now passed since Mr. Bancroft penned 
these pathetic words. But many years of useful labor were 
still before him, and the single surviving member of Sir 
Robert Peel's Cabinet yet remains to exercise that unequalled 
gift of persuasive eloquence which is the most striking charac- 
teristic of the fascinating personality of Mr. Gladstone. 

Upon the close of his mission to Berlin in 1874, Mr. Ban- 
croft's public service was at an end, and he took up his resi- 
dence in Washington in the midst of a society which might 
constantly change, but which was never variable in its defer- 
ence and affection toward him. His summers were passed at 
Newport in that delightful garden of roses which looks from 
the Eastern cliffs and across the tumbling waters towards the 
distant island of Martha's Vineyard. His lines were cast in 



pleasant ptiaces, but his life was as laborious as of old. He 
revised and completed his history to the end of the Revolu- 
tionary War ; he compiled his history of the formation of the 
Constitution ; and even at the great age of eighty-six he pub- 
lished a pamphlet reviewing the legal tender decisions of the 
Supreme Court, which is familiar to every friend of a sound 
currency, under the title of " A Plea for the Constitution 
Wounded in the House of its Guardians." His last publica- 
tion was a sketch of the life of his old friend, Martin Van 

BUREN. 

The long record of his useful and honorable career was 
closed by death on the 17th, day of January, 1891. Looking 
back at it, we have now the right to say that his life was 
happy. Although a lover of nature in some of its aspects, his 
tastes led him to prefer the life of cities, the movement and 
the contact with men. In Boston, in Washington, in London, 
in New York, in Berlin, and in Newport, he found associations 
which interested and delighted him. He lived to taste the 
favorable verdict of posterity upon his literary work. He lived 
to see the great measures of territorial expansion and of a 
reconstructed Union carried out ; the doctrine of expatriation 
adopted in international law ; and the last boundary dispute 
with Great Britain settled. His just fame as a historian has 
somewhat overshadowed his achievements as a public official ; 
but whether as a citizen, a statesman, or a man of letters, 
the Century will always hold his memory in reverence and 
honor. 



13 

There have been but four Presidents of the Century since the 
adoption of its Constitution in 1858, — Gulian C. Verplanck, 
George Bancroft, William Cullen Bryant and Daniel 
Huntington, — and when the day shall come — which we all 
pray may be far distant — that our present honored President 
shall no longer be able or willing to give us the benefit of his 
services and to grace our roll of membership by standing at its 
head, we shall need to look long and anxiously through our 
list to find successors worthy to follow the four eminent men 
whom I have named, and capable by their achievements, their 
abilities and their unsullied reputations, of carrying on the 
tradition so worthily handed down. 



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